Pete Seeger

Which Side Are You On?

Pete Seeger was a social activist and one of the most famous folk musicians of the 20th Century. Some of his best known songs are "If I Had a Hammer" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!"

This song was written by Florence Reece, a social activist, poet, and singer from Tennessee. According to Alan Lomax, who collected the song in the late '30s, Reece wrote it when she was twelve years old. It was popularized years later by Pete Seeger, who first learned to play it in 1940.

Lyrics

Come all of you good workers
Good news to you I'll tell
Of how that good old union
Has come in here to dwell
Chorus
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
My daddy was a miner
And I'm a miner's son
And I'll stick with the union
Till every battle's won
They say in Harlan County
There are no neutrals there
You'll either be a union man
Or a thug for J.H. Blair
Oh, workers can you stand it?
Oh, tell me how you can
Will you be a lousy scab
Or will you be a man?
Don't scab for the bosses
Don't listen to their lies
Us poor folks haven't got a chance
Unless we organize
——
Music and words by Florence Reece